Shahabuddin gearing up to reply to SC notice

Alok Mishra

Siwan:  Former RJD MP from Siwan Mohd. Shahabuddin is all set to reply to the Supreme Court (SC) notice asking him why the bail granted to him by Patna high court on September 7 in connection with the murder of Satish Raj and his brother Girish Raj in 2004, should not be cancelled. The case is also known as acid attack case and Shahabuddin was convicted in the case by the trial court.

Shahabuddin has reportedly contacted three senior lawyers of the Supreme Court including Ram Jethmalani and Kabil Sibbal, to put his case before the Supreme Court, which has put the next date of hearing on September 26. The former MP received the notice of the Supreme Court on Wednesday. Shahbuddin was released from jail on eptember 10.  Soon after his release, Chanda Babu, whose three sons were killed, as well as the state government filed separate petitions in the Supreme Court seeking cancellation his bail. Rajiv Ranjan, a witness to the murder of his two brothers Satish Raj and Girish Raj at former MP’s native village Pratappur in Siwan on August 16, 2004, was shot dead on June 16, 2014.

The former MP along with his associates-Sheikh Aslam, Sheikh Arif and Raj Kumar Sah were also awarded life imprisonment by Siwan ADJ Ajay Kumar Srivastava on December 11, 2015. Siwan Additional district and sessions judge Ajay Kumar Srivastava took transfer from Siwan, a day before Shahabuddin was released. It may be mentioned here that senior lawyer Ram Jethmalani had also taken the case of former Bihar CM and RJD chief Laloo Prasad in the much publicized Fodder Scam. He was later sent to Rajya Sabha.